Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects English Spring 4-30-2021 Final Master's Portfolio Josue Salas [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ms_english Part of the Literature in English, North America Commons Repository Citation Salas, Josue, "Final Master's Portfolio" (2021). Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects. 85. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ms_english/85 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the English at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. FINAL MASTER’S PORTFOLIO Josue J. Salas [email protected] A Final Portfolio Submitted to the English Department of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of English with a specialization in Literary & Textual Studies April 26, 2021 Dr. Erin Labbie, First Reader Ms. Kimberly Spallinger, Second Reader 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………pg. 1 Analytical Narrative………………………………………………………………………... pg. 2 Death by Consumption: Consumerism as Evil in John Carpenter’s They Live……………..pg. 6 Idiocracy and the End of “Culture”…………………………………………………………pg. 21 Europe’s Cannibals………………………………………………………………………… pg. 39 ACS 6820 & GERM 6800: Philosophies of Technology Portfolio…………………………pg. 52 Thesis Proposal: Primitive Machines: The Humanity of Science Fiction Films……………pg. 68 Primitive Memories: The Humanity of the Blade Runner Films (Work in Progress)………pg. 78 2 Josue J. Salas Analytical Narrative Shortly before entering the MA in Literary & Textual Studies Program at Bowling Green State University, I read Jean Baudrillard’s piece Simulacra & Simulation. At the same time, for the first time, I viewed the films of influential film director John Carpenter including Halloween (1978), The Thing (1982), and They Live (1988). Most of Carpenter’s films are political, but They Live is one of Carpenter’s most noticeably political films. The film’s critique of topics such as consumerist culture, media propaganda, and state violence make this obvious. For my ENG 6010, Introduction to English Studies seminar paper, I examined John Carpenter’s 1988 Sci-Fi, Action, Horror film, They Live using critical texts such as Jean Baudrillard’s The Consumer Society, and the documentary film The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012), directed by Sophie Fiennes and performed by Slavoj Žižek. Engaging with these and other critical texts, I argued that in the film, the evil alien creatures referred to as ghouls who manipulate society to consume are not the film's primary antagonist, but instead, a totalitarian system of culture, consumerism, and waste is. This is clear from the fact that humans are not the only ones being held captive by a totalitarian system of culture, consumerism, and waste in the film. For, the ghouls who are supposedly in charge of the said system seem to be captives of it as well, mindlessly consuming material goods and media alongside the humans they are supposedly manipulating to do so. When I revisited this paper, I supplemented my argument with a further application of texts such as Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation, Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment, and Herbert Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man to develop my argument that the true antagonist of the film is a totalitarian system of culture, consumerism, and waste. I highlighted the role of technology in this totalitarian system of control, e.g., media 3 technologies, mass-produced machines, and luxurious toys; as a result of revisiting this paper, my insight into topics such as culture, consumerism, and technology further developed. The revision process also made it more evident that topics such as culture, consumerism, and technology are inseparable from one another. Thus, to examine and critique one of these concepts entirely and comprehensively, one must examine and critique all of these concepts mentioned simultaneously. During my second semester, I took the ACS 6820 course, “Philosophies of Technology,” with Professor Edgar Landgraf in the World Languages and Cultures Department, where I read critical texts by theorists such as Ernst Kapp, Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger, Walter Benjamin, and Bernard Stiegler. My 6070, “Theory & Methods of Literary Criticism,” seminar paper was highly influenced by the work I produced in my philosophies of technology course. For my 6070 seminar paper, I examined Mike Judge’s 2006 Comedy/Sci-Fi film Idiocracy by applying critical texts such as Max Horkheimer & Theodor W. Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment, Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Karl Marx’s Capital. Idiocracy, and They Live share many of the same concerns regarding culture, consumerism, and technology. In Idiocracy, similar to They Live, the protagonist finds himself trapped in a totalitarian system of culture, consumerism, and waste. However, Idiocracy notably focuses on the idea that modern culture and technology are not enhancing humanity’s best, but instead, the opposite. In the film, which is set in the future, 2505, modern culture and technology has rendered humanity to absurd levels of idiocy and incompetence. Using the critical texts above, I presented the idea that culture and technology are powerful tools that, when misapplied or manipulated, can lead to disastrous results. 4 When I revisited this paper, I supplemented my argument with Herbert Marcuse's critical text One-Dimensional Man, where Marcuse, like his Frankfurt colleagues (Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, and Walter Benjamin), makes complex and comprehensive arguments regarding themes such as consumerism, culture, propaganda, technology, and totalitarianism. As a result of revisiting this paper, I found an anthropological line of thought regarding culture and technology, in which the concepts that can be found in critical texts of scholars such as Marx, Benjamin, Horkheimer, and Adorno, published centuries ago, are now more relevant than ever. For my English 6800 course, “The Global Middle Ages” seminar paper, after reading Michel de Montaigne's essay, “Of Cannibals,” I decided to write a piece that examined a variety of concepts such as Montaigne's work regarding cannibalism, native tribes’ practices of cannibalism, Europe's unfrequented history of cannibalism, Western religion, and Western modern medicine. My central thesis suggests that humanity, even as cultures differ, universally practices over-consumption of critical resources. Humans, whether through the practice of native tribes eating human flesh or through the modern medical practice of patients receiving blood and organ transplants, consume not only elements within nature that they cultivate, but also, they/we approach and use other humans as commodities for consumption. Before revising my original piece, I had difficulty pinning down my central thesis; however, after examining my argument and applying further relevant literature, I was able to compose a much more coherent and comprehensive piece. My fourth piece is a collection of works that originated from my ACS 6820 course, “Philosophies of Technology,” where I collected and expanded on many of the literature and ideas that I found the most influential, meaningful, and thought-provoking. Many of the scholars, e.g., Karl Marx, Fredrich Kittler, Bernard Stiegler, and their work included in my philosophy of 5 technology portfolio were going to be the basis of what was supposed to be my thesis project, one where I was going to examine influential Sci-Fi film franchises, such as Robocop (1987), Terminator (1984), and Blade Runner (1982), to examine concepts regarding humanism, post- humanism, technology, culture, media, etc.. However, due to many complicated events, I decided to write a much more condensed piece about the Blade Runner films; the piece is currently a work in progress that I hope to complete in the near future to submit to a conference. I leave the MA in Literary & Textual Studies Program at Bowling Green State University, even though it may sound cliché, as a much more mature person. Initially, when starting the program, I wanted to pursue a career as a university professor; however, after completing this program, I have concluded that what I want to do is leave academia in order to pursue new experiences, ideas, and discussions that cannot be found in academia or higher learning. I do believe that I have learned a lot during my time here at Bowling Green State University; however, I have come to realize that there are many things that one cannot learn or experience just through the practice of reading and writing scholarly work; thus, I believe it is time for me to explore the wider world, and even though it may not be in a classroom setting, continue to learn more about the topics, concepts, and issues that interest me and I am passionate about. 6 Josue J. Salas Prof. Pal-Lapinski ENG 6010 Death by Consumption: Consumerism as Evil in John Carpenter’s They Live In his cult classic film, They Live (1988), John Carpenter examines critical issues such as; the Reagan Presidency, media as propaganda, and hyper-consumerism. Using texts such as Sophie Fiennes’s A Pervert’s Guide to ideology (2012), Jean Baudrillard’s The Consumer Society, and various related texts as my framework, I will examine John Carpenter’s film They Live’s portrayal of capital, consumption, and greed. I would like to discuss how many of the films’ concerns are still relevant today, maybe now more than ever. Film synopsis: a drifter named John Nada arrives in Los Angeles looking for work. While working a temporary construction job, he meets a fellow drifter named Frank Armitage, who introduces him to a commune of fellow drifters and homeless people. After a series of mysterious occurrences occur at a nearby church, Nada breaks into the church and finds a box of sunglasses.